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Reviews
Munich (2005)
An even handed movie about land and revenge
Two good, fair movies have been made this year about the eternal Israeli/Palestinian war. I prefer "Paradise Now," a tense-low budget, no-stars movie, that portrays two young Palestinian suicide bombers. "Munich" is about the cycle of revenge and response caused by the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics. It's a compelling movie, as unpleasant and uncomfortable as is the subject.
Spielberg portrays an Israeli hit squad that gradually loses its moral certainty as assassination piles on assassination. A key moment in the film is when when a young, idealistic Palestinian terrorist talks of the need of a homeland -- much as Israelis talk -- and the dawning realization on the assassin's leader, Eric Bana, that not much in the way of moral space separates the terrorists from the hit squad.
Unlike others, I did not care for the omnipresent "French connection" in the movie. One is asked to believe that an old man on a farm seemingly has all the information in the world at hand, including the addresses and bios of Palestinian terrorists. This was a cheap plot trick in my opinion, a quick and easy, but hardly credible way for the hit squad to find terrorists. Better would have been a gritty search, blind alleys, and a mistake or two along the way.
The obvious message of the movie is that violence begets violence and a better way must be found. Spielberg doesn't suggest that better way. I won't bore the reader with my solution, but attempts to look at the Palestinian/Israeli problem in a even-handed manner is a good trend.
Smallchief
The Sum of All Fears (2002)
A couple of flaws.
This is a pretty decent movie with a couple of flaws. First, I have trouble accepting Ben Affleck as the young Jack Ryan. He looks and acts like a college sophomore, not a CIA analyst.
That's minor compared to point two. To paraphrase Waylon Jennings "Don't you think this Nazi bit done got out of hand?" 57 years after World War II ended and the moviemakers are still coming up with Nazi plots to control the world? We all know why. Political correctness demands that only blond haired and blue eyed people be bad guys. So, the bad guys have to be Nazis...who else are there: Canadians? Swedes? Hardly persuasive...
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
Zombie Jamboree
Ben Stiller and Gweneth Paltrow's acting in this movie should get them pelted with rotten eggs. They are unattractive characters -- nothing wrong with that -- but also made to be monumentally boring. Paltrow never seems to wake up and Stiller is entirely too awake. The whole movie consists of characters talking slowly with lots of pauses so the patrons can munch their popcorn. Timing is everthing in comedy, so they say, but this one seems to have been timed with a calendar. Gene Hackman is pretty good, as are his elevator operator buddies, but the Tenenbaums -- including mama Anjelica Houston, who I have always liked -- are zombies. In fact, that would be a good title for this movie: "Zombie Jamboree."
Pulp Fiction (1994)
yap, yap, yap, yap, yap
The conservations are interminable in this slow-moving gangster flick. I almost screamed,"Quit talking and do something!" Tarentino, to say the least, is not a master of pithy dialogue. If you cut about an hour of the chatter Pulp Fiction might be a good movie.
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)
The politics don't ring true
For me this film is marred by unlikely politics. Jean Brodie is an enthusiastic fascist. OK. Lots of people liked fascism back in the 1930s. But Miss Brodie persuades one of her students to go to Spain and fight for fascism and Franco. Did that ever happen? The reverse is certainly true. All sorts of intellectuals waxed poetic about the glories of Communism and the Spanish Republic and encouraged young men and women to go to Spain and die fighting for the cause. Many accepted the call -- including George Orwell who came home thoroughly disillusioned. But I'm not aware of any movement to enlist American or British volunteers to fight for fascism and Franco. Thus, the movie would have been truer to its time if Miss Brodie had been a leftist and persuaded her student to fight for the Communists.
Gone with the Wind (1939)
Scarlett was one mean woman
It's somewhat illuminating that the meanest, most ruthless, most liberated woman in American literature appeared in a book and movie in the 1930s which portrayed a women of the 1860s. Scarlett O'Hara is the greatest female character of our heritage. Who else comes close?
Vanilla Sky (2001)
A pretentious mish-mash
Well, there are some good points to this movie. Cameron Diaz and Penelope Cruz are lovely ladies. Diaz has a meaty role as the undervalued lover; Cruz plays the perfect woman about whom all men dream. Thus, she is not half as interesting as she thinks she is. This might have been a good romance/psychological thriller if the science fiction elements to the plot had been completely, totally, absolutely omitted. Sorting out reality and Cruise's dreams could have made for a good movie. But the incredibly inept sortie into science fiction makes this movie a joke -- and not a very funny one. The first hour or so of the movie is interesting; the last half hour is ridiculous and boring. The movie might have been worth seeing if a truly interesting and surprising ending had been devised. But it wasn't and this movie was stupid.
Feng yue (1996)
A not so good Chinese domestic drama
What you can say about this movie is that it was not directed by Zhang Yimou who did (if I'm not mistaken) Raise the Red Lantern and Ju Dou which were excellent movies. This is similar -- but inferior -- to Zhang's work. Gong Li, the lead actress, is less sensual than usual, the story is convoluted and complicated, the ending is exactly like that of every other movie I've seen in which Gong Li is the lead, and the story strains credibility.
The lead male character, Zhong, is sort of a Chinese Tom Cruise. The women all love him, despite the fact that he's a louse. He suffers horribly because they suffer because of their love for him. Nobody suffers as much as Gong Li. Tragic ending predictable. The photography was good. That's about all.
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999)
overblown, slow, boring
Maybe it is unfair for me to review this movie because I walked out well before the end. That's odd, because I usually like Shakespeare on the screen and I enjoyed Midsummers Night's Dream once, many years ago, when I saw it on the stage.
I think that two things did me in: that squeaky twerp with the Shakespearian name, Calista Flockhart, and Michelle Feiffer sitting in a giant clamshell. Well, I suppose you could say it supposed to be a comedy -- but when the scenery is funny and the actors aren't, I'd say we have a bad movie on our hands....
Ju Dou (1990)
A tragic, sensual love story
For those who pay attention to such things, Gong Li shows more skin than seems to be usual in Chinese movies. Not that it matters, of course, to people like you and me who only watch movies because of their cultural and artistic merit.
Impending doom overlays every scene in Ju Dou and the closed in, claustrophobic atmosphere creates an almost unbearable tension. The photography, of course, is exquisite, the acting subtle, and Gong Li is beautiful. The ending, however, is less that brilliant. A little unanticipated twist to Gong Li's fate might have made this an exceptional rather than just a very good movie.
Schindler's List (1993)
A poor end to a great film
This is a powerful and important film. However, I thought the ending was an artistic letdown. Spielberg should have ended the movie 10 minutes earlier when the war was over and taken "Shane" as a model for his ending. Remember Shane? The hero rides into the sunset --or is it sunrise? -- unrewarded, unheralded -- punished, in fact, for his heroism. That's how Schindler's List should have ended, with Schindler walking into the shadows and fade to darkness. Virtue is its own reward. We don't need an award's ceremony to tell us this guy was a hero.
Da hong denglong gaogao gua (1991)
Beautiful domestic drama
This is an exquisite film in every detail. Beauty is in every frame. Were it not so well made, I would describe it as a slow-moving domestic drama: Jane Austen with claws. I couldn't quite accept Gong Li as a Chinese woman of the 1920s. She looked a little too tall, well fed, and healthy: a modern look that showed through the gorgeous costumes and scenery.
The Terminator (1984)
Best villain ever
Terminator is a good movie primarily because Arnold Schwartznegger (sp?)is the most evil, relentless villain in the history of film. He is a killing machine disguised as a human being and his lack of any feeling, any remorse, any spark of humanity is chilling indeed. It has a pretty clever story line too. As action movies go, Terminator is near the top of the list.
Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo (1966)
The West as it never was
It took an Italian to revolutionize the American Western. Everything was strange and new about the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Perhaps the strangest was that it was not a contest between good and evil -- the white hats and the black hats -- as was the typical western, but instead had a plot driven by the greed of the three characters -- one of whom is charitably called good, the other two certifiably bad and ugly.
The music is extraordinary -- one of the best and most original soundtracks ever. The photography is weird -- no one had ever focused so close-up on people's eyes or the pores in their skin. The violence is brutal and surreal. The three-cornered gunfight is one of the great scenes from cinema. The scenery is off. It doesn't look like the American west -- and in fact it isn't. The movie was made in Spain. The characters are incredibly seedy. Most of them look like they took a bath about a decade ago and haven't changed their clothes since. And nobody gets the girl -- because there isn't any girl.
I love this movie! It makes my all-time top ten list. Clint Eastwood is cool beyond belief; Eli Wallach is a hoot; and Lee Van Cleef is really, really bad.
Magnolia (1999)
Worst movie ever?
This was a movie of spellbinding stupidity. I sincerely believe that the Director made the most pretentious bit of nonsense he possibly could and foisted it off on a credulous public as art. He's laughing all the way to the bank. And you've wasted three hours of your life that would have been better spent cleaning lint out of your navel.
Wo hu cang long (2000)
One of the all time best movies
CTHD combines an exciting story, great stunts, beautiful cinematography, lovely women, and a complex story that is by turns mysterious, suggestive, and incomprehensible. Michelle Yeoh is a good actress in addition to her physical talents as a martial artist. Zhang Zi Yi is a sexy vixen. Chow Yun Fat is an aging warrior who seems to be going through a mid-life crisis. He loves Michelle Yeoh, but can't get around to telling her, and is attracted to Zhang. The unanswered question posed by Zhang is, "Did you want me or my sword?" The two women dominate this movie; their martial arts scenes are spectacular; Yo Yo Ma's cello is sad and fetching; the scenery is spectacular; the fate of Chow and Michelle is heart-rending; the fate of Zhang is puzzling and ambiguous. Great movie!
The Remains of the Day (1993)
One of the all time best
Remains of the Day makes my all time top-ten list. What I love about the film is the incredible romantic tension that is built between Anthony Hopkins, the butler, and Emma Thompson, the housekeeper. Emma Thompson is absolutely luminious in the role of a dowdy servant. She has the best eyes in the business. Anthony Hopkins is perfect as a butler who carries the meaning of "up tight" to new levels.
The Remains of the Day (1993)
One of the all time best
Remains of the Day makes my all time top-ten list. What I love about the film is the incredible romantic tension that is built between Anthony Hopkins, the butler, and Emma Thompson, the housekeeper. Emma Thompson is absolutely luminious in the role of a dowdy servant. She has the best eyes in the business. Anthony Hopkins is perfect as a butler who carries the meaning of "up tight" to new levels.